Defining Success
Living in a world where bigger, more, and “lots” seem to be the only indicators of success, it can be hard to stay focused on our personal definitions of success. We are measured by followers, income, organization size, expansion, and the length of our title.
Societal pressures, whether acknowledged or not, tend to be pushing us all towards a model of excess, not success. “Millions of Twitter followers!” “Million-dollar deal!” “HUGE staff!” “Franchising!” “Going global!” “Increased customer (or member) base!” “Adding services!” “Look at these stats!”
When thinking about the definition of success, I often ponder the Theranos Scandal in Silicon Valley. If you’re not familiar with this now-defunct company, the founder went on trial for multiple counts of fraud. She sold an idea that didn’t work to lots of smart people. She was worth lots of money. She had a huge corporate headquarters. Her face was in most magazines, and she was lauded by many organizations. Elizabeth Holmes had a lot of “a lot.”
But it turned out none of it was real. The product she sold didn’t work and it really didn’t exist. Like many magicians, she used smoke and mirrors and distraction to keep the audience from seeing what she was really doing. But she was successful, right? Her face was everywhere. Investors lined up. She defended her company vehemently until she lost it.
Those of us looking from the outside saw that she hit most of the “success indicators” and probably asked ourselves once or twice, “What is she doing right that I’m not doing?” It’s cold comfort that it turned out not to be true, because we saw the destruction of a young woman because she was chasing other people’s definition of success.
While we all use metrics and goals to measure progress, and yes, we can say that “success” is hitting these metrics, if we are driven by the numbers and the statistics are we losing the passion? Are we losing the reason we get involved in a career or business because we are distracted by the pressure to “run with the big dogs”? We have to stop and ask ourselves if we haven’t fallen for something of a false narrative, because as we know, money doesn’t buy happiness or increase our self-worth.
I must emphasize “ask ourself” because the only one that can answer that question is you. Your personal definition of success comes from your own worldview, core values, ethics, and principles of daily living. If “millions” and “lots” and “HUGE” are what motivate you and defines your success, then I say “awesome! Go for it.”
But if you don’t buy into that definition of success so effectively pushed by social media companies and Silicon Valley, that’s okay too. We aren’t all motivated by money despite the fact we need it to function in society. Bigger is not always better. We aren’t all motivated by “bigger,” but I like to think most of us are motivated by “better.”
Rogue Tulips Consulting serves nonprofits of all types with our client-centered, personal approach to service. We communicate, build trust, collaborate, and build consensus on the definition of success. www.roguetulips.com
